Various types of network devices can be deployed in a network to allow communications between electronic devices, which can include computers, personal digital assistants, mobile telephones, or other types of devices. Examples of network devices include firewalls, proxies, gateways, network address translators, and any other type of device through which communication between at least two electronic devices can pass. A network device is associated with certain performance characteristics (such as a data throughput, number of packets over a specified time interval, etc.) that determine the processing capabilities of the network devices when handling traffic communicated in a network.